Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea [Paperback]

Tobias Schneebaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 1994

Tobias Schneebaum here tells the remarkable story of his four years among the Asmat of New Guinea, a jungle-dwelling people rumored to have killed Michael Rockefeller. Instead of ferocious cannibals, Schneebaum found a regal, gentle people who freely accepted him and initiated him into a way of life no outsider had ever seen before.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

The author of the classic Keep the River on Your Right here tells the remarkable story of his four years among the Asmat of New Guinea, a jungle-dwelling people rumored to have killed Michael Rockefeller. Instead of ferocious cannibals, Schneebaum found a regal, loving, gentle people who freely accepted him and initiated him into a way of life no outsider had ever seen before. Adopted into an Asmat family in the village whose people were said to have killed Rockefeller, he crossed the boundaries into another culture and another age, learning secrets no other outsider had been allowed to see before. But it wasn't until Schneebaum met Akatpitsjin, a handsome married man with five children, that he entered the erotic world of the Asmat, when the two became "exchange friends" and lovers, a practice basic to the sexual life of the village.

Schneebaum's encounter with the Asmat ultimately became something more intimate and liberating for him than the mere discovery of tribal secrets. He confronted himself. His odyssey is as much the record of a journey into himself as it is a unique and sensitively observed account of a vanishing society, written with a shimmering sensuality that has no equal in the literature of anthropology or self-confession.

"Exhilarating and unforgettable. An excellent book."--James Purdy

"Tobias Schneebaum's frank and stunning memoir illuminates the mysteries of a distant culture while it reminds us of the universality of loneliness and desire."--Hilma Wolitzer

"Humane, loving, precise in detail, and profound in understanding, Where the Spirits Dwell is a beautifully written account of personal engagement, during four years, with what must be the most remarkable environment in the world. Everyone should read it."--Hayden Carruth

"A travelogue- exotic enough to captivate even reluctant armchair travelers."--Los Angeles Times

"An unforgettable portrait of a vanishing world."--San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

"Once in a great while a truly original person like Tobias Schneebaum comes along. Everyone, including the primitive peoples he lives among, recognizes it instantly."--Edward Field, author of A Frieze for a Temple of Love

Born in New York in 1922, Tobias Schneebaum graduated from the City College of New York and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Goddard College. He was the assistant curator of the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress in Irian Jaya from 1973 to 1983. Since then he has served as the curator of a number of exhibitions of Asmat art, and lectured on Asmat culture at universities and museums around the world. Where the Spirits Dwell is the final volume of his autobiographical trilogy, which also includes Keep the River on Your Right and Wild Man. He was the subject of a documentary film, Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale, which premiered at the 2000 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. His latest work, a memoir entitled Secret Places: My Life in New York and New Guinea, was published in October 2000.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (March 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802131662
• ISBN-13: 978-0802131669
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Travel > Australia & South Pacific > Papua New Guinea
  • #48 in Books > Travel > Asia > Indonesia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, December 15, 2002

By 

Laszlo Wagner (Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea (Paperback)

Having visited the region where this book is set I found it mostly interesting for giving a picture of how things used to be there - they are much changed today!
For those who haven't been to the Asmat region of New Guinea, this will be a fascinating read. Those inspired to go should be prepared to find it a lot more civilized these days.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Odyssey...but not thee kind I wanted, August 22, 2005

By 

F. Stecker (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea (Paperback)

A nice read but a bit too much about the author rather than about the people of New Guinea.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars word, December 19, 2007

By 

Mark Brown "DJ TIPPIE WON TON" (Chicago, il) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea (Paperback)

I read this book and enjoyed it. Tobias is an off the books type of person, who is haphazardly entering upon territory in a why that is both remarkable but beyond the responsible range of any anthropologist. the other person reveiwing this book says that the Asmat regions are now civilized, so much the worse. there are traits common to the humanistic tradition which have thrived for millenia due to thier geografic remoteness, now the origins of our collective character is being usurped by values and judgements most purverse. Tobias was a man who belonged to a bygone era. one of color and mystisim. i rate this book highly for those who cant afford to bombard New guinea with thier tourisim and want a look at what things were like in a diffrent time and scope.